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The healing power of sport

Less than two months after the terrible tragedy that affected the country, Turkey is determined to show in Durres (ALB) that whatever catastrophic the circumstances may be, there is always room for hope. At the end of the sixth day of competition at the IWF World Youth Championships, the Turkish delegation has already 14 medals – five gold, five silver, and four bronze – and is placed fourth so far in the medal chart of the event.   The most recent protagonist of this success story was Baki Sami Kiymet, winner of the men’s 96kg, with a personal best of 145-180-325. His supremacy during the final was never questioned and his closest competitor was Italy’s Simone Abati, finishing in 317kg (144+173).   Still 16 (he will celebrate his 17th anniversary next June 28), Kiymet was visibly a happy man after the medal ceremony. After six years in the sport – thanks to the influence of his grandfather, himself a weightlifting coach -, the new world youth champion declared that his victory was not “planned before coming to Albania”. However, he quickly adds: “It is a nice contribution to Turkey’s overall number of medals. I worked very hard to get these results, and in the end, the effort paid off”.   Training six days a week (with double sessions every day), Kiymet comes from Konya, a city in central Turkey. When asked about the consequences of the earthquake on a personal, and on a sport level, the 16-year-old explains: “Fortunately, my city is far from the epicentre of the tragedy. I didn’t have any personal problem with a family member or friend. However, the entire country felt this was an enormous tragedy. For me, it was the saddest thing I lived in my life and it obviously had consequences in terms of the sport. If affected all activities in Turkey”.   Kiymet then rebounds on the power of sport in situations as the Turkish nation lived. “To continue training and practicing weightlifting was the best possible ‘therapy’ to forget for a while what was happening. We are all very proud of the courage of our citizens to deal with such a drama, but for us, athletes, sport is also a way to heal wounds. I am very lucky to have weightlifting!”   Turkish talent’s next rendezvous will be the European Youth Championships, a competition in which he already won medals in the past. The long-term objective is, of course, the participation in the Olympic Games.   With two days to go before the conclusion of these Championships, Turkey has still good chances to win medals, in both the women’s 81kg and +81kg, respectively with Busra Can (best entry total of 224kg) and Tuana Suren (also the strongest on the entry list, at 240kg).   By Pedro Adrega, IWF

Durres, Day 6: Teenager and 77-year-old show Italy is on right path for weightlifting success

An athlete and a retired coach with an age difference of 60 years represented the past and future health of Italian weightlifting on day six of the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres, Albania. In his second international competition Simone Abati (ITA) went up 15kg in body weight and 78kg in performance to finish second in the men’s 96kg behind Sami Baki Kiymet (TUR). Abati came desperately close to making six from six but just failed with his final attempt, leaving Kiymet to decline his final lift on 145-180-325. Abati made 144-173-317. It was an impressive display by both men, who finished well ahead of Ashot Margaryan (ARM) in third place on 137-163-300. Abati had finished fifth and last in his only previous competition, the European Under-15 Championships in 2021 when he lifted in the 81kg category and made 239kg in total. That was a few weeks after Italy had won more medals than any other European nation at the Tokyo Olympic Games, a feat they aim to repeat in Paris as a long-term development programme continues to bear fruit. Watching on at the Ramazan Njala Sport Complex, as Abati won Italy’s first medal on total this week, was 77-year-old Salvatore Scarantino, who has played a significant role in the story of Italian weightlifting across seven decades. Salvatore has the same surname as one of Italy’s most illustrious weightlifting families, whose youngest member lifted in Durres this week. But he is no relation to the multiple Olympians Giovanni and Mirco Scarantino. The connection is that they all come from the same city, Caltanissetta in Sicily, which thanks to Salvatore’s intervention became the “weightlifting capital” of Italy. But for Salvatore’s decision to bring weightlifting to Caltanissetta in 1968, Giovanni Scarantino may never have made it to Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, and his recently retired son Mirco to London 2012 and Rio 2016.  And maybe, too, Antonio Urso, general secretary of the IWF, 12 times a national champion and head of that long-term development plan as president of the Italian Weightlifting Federation, might never have taken up the sport. “In weightlifting there is nowhere else in the world like Caltanissetta, and Salvatore Scarantino is responsible for the city’s enthusiasm for our sport,” said Urso, who is from the 63,000-population regional capital. “Nobody talks about football in Caltanissetta, only weightlifting.” Salvatore was in the fire brigade and wanted an indoor sport at the barracks to help keep the firemen fit. When he was watching live television coverage of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, he decided weightlifting would fit the bill. When he asked for help, the renowned coach Roberto Migliaccio was sent from Rome and he stayed for two years, coaching athletes and coaches. Salvatore himself was the first coach in Caltanissetta, and was active for more than 50 years until he retired two years ago. “Caltanissetta is the most important city in Italian weightlifting,” Salvatore said in the break during Abati’s competition. “We have had great coaches – Ettore Pilato, Salvatore Parla, Maurizio Sardo and now Alessandro Spinelli in the national team. “We have had 42 athletes from Caltanissetta in the national team, six at the Olympic Games, we have won more than 500 national championships. There will be more.” One of them may be Claudio Scarantino, Mirco’s brother who was 17 this week. Claudio, who won a European youth medal last year, made only two good lifts at 61kg here but is definitely one for the future. “If he maintains his progress he will for sure achieve good results,” said Urso. Both Giovanni and Mirco are now helping their nation off the platform. Giovanni is working on training and selecting young talent in a special project in which the Italian Weightlifting Federation (FIPE) has invested 400,000 euros. Mirco, 11 times a European champion, retired last month and will now focus on coaching and sport university. “We want all our top achievers to attend sport university. We need people like them so we can use their experience of elite weightlifting,” said Urso. There was a surprise in the day’s other medal event in Durres, the women’s 76kg. Ella Nicholson (USA) was hoping to qualify for the Pan American Youth Championships in Venezuela in August with some personal-best lifts – and she did that in style by breaking all three continental youth records and winning a world title. Nicholson, 16, came to the sport through CrossFit and is from an active family. Her mother does CrossFit, her brother is in wrestling and football, and her dad goes to the gym too. “I’m motivated by all the strong women in weightlifting and CrossFit, I look up to them and want to be like them,” she said. “I’ve been on a weightlifting track for the past eight weeks and I’m going to stay on it for sure.” Nicholson made 101-121-222, posting a clean and jerk personal best by 7kg. That left her ahead of Rahma Ahmed (EGY), last year’s winner, on 99-122-221. Ahmed needed to make 124kg on her final attempt to take the title but her coaches failed to enter the correct weight in time. Anna Amroyan (ARM) was third on 88-116-204. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games

Bariloche, Day 3: Local fans celebrate Ullua’s gold; double win for Venezuela

Local fans had good reasons to celebrate the third day of the Pan-American Championships, taking place in Bariloche, as Argentinean Tatiana Ullua shone in the women’s 64kg, taking the gold medals at stake. In the snatch, Ullua lifted 92kg, followed by a 111kg effort in the clean and jerk and a winning total of 203kg. In the other two finals of the day, Venezuela controlled operations, with gold going to Julio Mayora Pernia in the men’s 73kg and to Darvin Castro Palma in the men’s 81kg. In Ullua’s event, the second best of the session was Sema Ludick Rivas (NCA), collecting the three silver linings with 88-110-198. The bronze medals went to Canada’s Nadia Yangui, who lifted 86-107-193. In the men’s lighter category, US Ryan Grimsland had to content with silver, after lifting 141kg in snatch and a subsequent 182kg in the clean & jerk (total of 323kg). The bronze went to Jorge Cardenas Estrada (MEX) in the snatch (140kg) and total (310kg), while a second US representative, Caden Cahoy, completed the podium in the clean & jerk (171kg). In the men’s 81kg, Palma’s win was also undisputed. Local star Dante Pizzuti earned three silver medals, with respectively 142kg, 175kg and 317kg in the snatch, C&J and total. The bronze linings went to two lifters: in the snatch, Samuel Guertin (CAN) lifted 140kg, which contributed to a third-total best of 310kg. In the clean and jerk, the third position also went to Canada, with Nicolas Vachon successfully lifting 174kg.   Read more:Bariloche, Day 2: Clear victories for Charron (CAN), Contreras (PER) and Morales (NCA) – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Bariloche, Day 1: USA, Mexico and Venezuela start with gold – International Weightlifting Federation

The national sport in Turkmenistan? Weightlifting, of course!

After the conclusion of the fifth day and 14th event at the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres, Turkmenistan is the second most medalled country in Albania, with a total of 10 awards, six of them gold. The Philippines are the actual leaders of the medal chart, with 12 podium presences (including seven victories). The latest success for the Asian nation came in the women’s 64kg, where Gulalek Kakamyradova got a bronze in the snatch, lifting 88kg. With three days to go, Turkmen officials hope that more top-3 finishes will come.   “Weightlifting is definitively a national sport in our country,” says Chary Mammedov, General Secretary of the Turkmenistan Weightlifting Federation. The explanation is simple: despite a historically solid tradition in the sport, the pivotal moment occurred during the last Olympic Games in Tokyo. In the women’s 59kg category, Polina Guryeva manages to achieve an unprecedented feat: the first-ever Olympic medal (all sports included) for the country in the history of the Games! “Needless to say that she is a hero for us. Moreover, it caused a great development for our sport. It brought many children and young athletes to weightlifting,” Mammedov explains. More recently, last December with the occasion of the IWF World Championships, Rejepbay Rejepov was also second in the men’s 81kg.   “We have a national programme of talent detection. When we find an athlete with the potential to shine, we take him to our Olympic Centre in Ashgabat. There, from 15 years old, they can continue studying and training, but they are already on the right pathway to eventually represent our country in the Games,” the Turkmen official explains. “The majority of our lifters come from two of our five provinces in Turkmenistan. The sport is very developed there. Overall, we have almost 300 weightlifters registered in our Federation, but many more are practicing this activity,” Mammedov adds.   After Guryeva's exploit in the Japanese capital, there is hope that up to six lifters (three men and three women) can compete at the Paris 2024 Games. “I think we will make it. There is a good group of Olympic hopefuls that have good possibilities of getting there”. Before that, the main rendezvous of the year are the IWF World Championships next September in Riyadh (KSA). “We will have a strong team there. We are aiming at around eight medals in Saudi Arabia!”   When asked about the expectations coming to Albania, the National Federation General Secretary is clear: “We knew we could perform well, especially among women. The only small deception was perhaps in the men’s 61kg, where Perhat (Bagtyyarov) could have won the overall gold. If he had achieved his entry result, he would be first, but unfortunately he stayed 2kg short (258/260) and ‘only’ got silver. All the remaining events are going in accordance with the plan. And more successes will come in the days to come”.   The Turkmen delegation in Durres includes nine athletes – four of them medalled so far (three women, one man), and a real podium possibility will come in the women’s 81kg, where Amanjan Rustamova shares the best total entry with two other competitors. For the time being, the most successful one in these Championships was Medine Amanova, with three wins in the women’s 59kg category.   After the podium ceremony, the hero of the day was smiling but somehow disappointed with the result. “Of course, it’s always good to win a medal, but I could have done more. I did my best ever in the snatch, but I was not so solid in the clean & jerk,” confesses Gulalek. In the end, she finished fourth overall (189kg), after only lifting 101kg in the C&J. “While training, I lifted 107kg, so I had a margin to do much better”. Aged 17, she started practicing weightlifting after watching the sport at the 2017 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games, held in the Turkmen capital. “I liked it very much – as our national team won some medals there – and from then on I continue training hard,” she admits.   The first promising results came in 2020, at the National Championships. “I then understood that I had potential and that this was my way in the sport”. Training five times a week (including a three-day double session), Gulalek is now aiming at the Asian youth and junior championships. “But the ultimate goal are the 2028 Olympic Games!” By Pedro Adrega, IWF

Durres, Day 5: Golden double for Thailand as five more nations join medals table 

Thailand had two debut winners on day five of the IWF World Youth Championships and one of them, Thanaporn Saetia, is hoping to step straight up to senior level by lifting at the Asian Championships in Jinju, Korea next month. Saetia was impressive in taking a sweep of golds in the women’s 64kg, failing only with her final attempt to finish 93-113-206. That would have earned her second place in the heavier 71kg category where the clear winner was her team-mate Phattharathida Wongsing. Five more nations came into the medals table throughout the day – Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela, Finland and Syria. So far 27 nations have won medals. Saetia, 17 last week, was a late starter compared to many of the athletes here in Durres, and she is from a family with no sporting background. The key moment was meeting Sukanya Srisurat four years ago when Thailand’s Rio 2016 Olympic champion visited a sports school in Chonburi. She persuaded Saetia to try weightlifting and the newcomer immediately fell in love with it. “Sukanya Srisurat is my idol, I want to be like her,” Saetia said. “I have a dream to go to the Olympic Games. “When I started I paid close attention to what I was told and it was just training, training, training. I like all the exercises, all the movements.” Thailand clearly has high hopes of Saetia. This was her first competition, and team manager Phetkasem Rataporn said her second could be the senior Asian Championships, an Olympic qualifying event that runs from May 3-13 in Jinju. There would be no pressure on her to win a medal and she would learn from the experience, he said. “For young athletes here or anywhere we try to make the competition more like a training session than worry about winning medals. We make training like a competition, and make a competition like training.” Saetia was 5kg clear of Taissiya Alexeyeva (KAZ), who made 89-112-201. Ingrid Segura (COL), the winner at this weight in the past two World Youth Championships with totals of 204kg and 211kg, was third on 86-108-194. Gulalek Kakamyradova (TKM) was third in the snatch on 88kg and won a 10th medal of these Championships for Turkmenistan. Olivia Selemaia (NZL) had her country’s best ever result at the World Youth Championships when she finished fourth on 84-107-191, the same as her winning total at 71kg when she won Oceania youth and junior titles last May. Wongsing, also from the Chonburi sport school and also making her first appearance in international competition, was a wide-margin winner at 71kg, posting 92-120-212. Burcu Gercekden (TUR) was next on 88-113-201 and Keily Silva (VEN) third on 87-112-199. Last year’s runner-up Anna Ylisoini (FIN) took the snatch silver on 91kg and finished fourth on total with 198kg. Turkey had its first winner of the week when Kerem Kurnaz (TUR) made six from six in the men’s 89kg, finishing 144-183-327. It was a great effort because Kurnaz, 16, said had to overcome injury since his victory in the European Youth Championships in 2021. “I broke my arm in three places in training and also I had shoulder surgery for another injury,” he said. He will try for a second European title in Moldova in July. Kurnaz’s father and coach Hayrettin was a national champion and Kerem’s 18-year-old brother Hakan is the junior world champion at 81kg. The winner was the only one of 16 athletes in this category to post a bigger total than Levan Ochigava (GEO) made in winning at 81kg on Tuesday. Nurdos Sabyr (KAZ) was second on 145-176-321 and Valerik Movsisyan (ARM) third on 140-166-306. Ahmad Shammaa (SYR) made 41kg more in clean and jerk than snatch, taking the clean and jerk bronze and fourth place overall on 130-171-301. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Bariloche, Day 2: Clear victories for Charron (CAN), Contreras (PER) and Morales (NCA)

The second day of the Pan-American Championships, being held in Bariloche (ARG) until April 2, was marked by clear wins from the dominators of the three categories at stake. In the women’s 55kg, Shoely Mego Contreras, from Peru, controlled operations with a 85kg snatch, a successful clean & jerk of 107kg, and an accumulated total of 192kg. Things were also clear for Orlando Vasquez Morales, from Nicaragua, in the men’s 67kg. In the snatch, he lifted 125 kg, then 154kg in the clean & jerk, for an overall gold in 279kg. Finally, Maude Charron (CAN) controlled operations in the women’s 59g, with 101-124-225kg. The minor medals in the women’s lighter category went to Josee Galant (CAN) in the snatch (silver in 84kg), Jennifer Hernandez Chamorro (ECU) in the clean & jerk (second in 106kg), and again to Galant in the total (189kg). The bronze linings in this category went to Ana Lopez Ferrer (MEX) in snatch (82kg), to Galant in clean & jerk (105kg), and to Chamorro in the overall count (187kg). Among men, things were even clearer, with silver going to Vicente Montoya Alvarado (MEX, 121-147-268) and bronze to Mateo Renteria Caamano (PER, 116-146-262). Finally, in the women’s 59g, Danielle Gunning (USA) was 1kg behind Charron in the snatch (100kg for silver) and 5kg in the total (second in 220kg). In the clean & jerk, Daphne Guillen Vazquez (MEX) was the runner-up, in 122kg. The Mexican was also third overall (217kg), while her teammate Janeth Gomez Valdivia won bronze in the clean & jerk (121kg). In the snatch, it was a North American affair, with Taylor Wilkins (USA) on top of the lower podium march (96kg). Read also:Bariloche, Day 1: USA, Mexico and Venezuela start with gold – International Weightlifting Federation